ABU DHABI DOOBY DO

Matt & I spent the day in Abu Dhabi, courtesy of our same private car & driver.  Yesterday's car was a Jaguar, today's car was some sort of luxury Ford.  Can't remember the name of the car, but we're really fitting in with the chic sheiks  :-)   Matt told you in yesterday's post that he couldn't remember the name of the driver.  I'm spelling it phonetically, but it's "Imptius", although Matt & I have alternately called him "Emptiness", "Impetus", & at one point I went way off base & referred to him as "Imptika".

Although we made several stops, the crown jewel was the Sheik Zayed Mosque.  Bigger & more impressive than the Taj Mahal (so sayeth the travelers who have been to the Taj Mahal).  In respect of the local religion, I had to don a black gown & burqa.  Cover those knees & your hair, Devil Woman!

Then it was time to check into the Burj Al Arab.  Oh sweet Allah, I don't even know know where to begin.  It's such a majestic sight driving across the bridge.  When you enter the lobby, no less than 8 people are all over you.  One offers you a cool, damp towel soaked in green tea.  Another offers you a silver bowl to discard your towel.  Yet another comes at you with a silver tray full of dates.  A woman checks you in, 2 guys are grabbing your luggage, & the whole time you're acting like a hick because this place is --- ummm --- I can't even think of a word, but Matt calls it "obscene".  We'd been told we'd been upgraded to a "Panoramic Suite".  Don't know how that happened, but we'll take it!  Our entire entourage accompanied us to the 14th floor.  The whole way there, my mouth is hanging open like a rube.  Along the way, we picked up another guy to add to our posse, our butler.

They open the door to our suite with a flourish, & the first thing you see is a grand circular staircase that takes you up to the master suite.  Downstairs is the "business center", the lounge, a powder room, & since we have a corner suite, there's floor-to-ceiling windows on 2 sides.  Upstairs, the bedroom, the dressing area, & master bathroom --- I think my brain stopped functioning at this point.  OVERLOAD --- too overwhelming!

We had tea in the Sky Bar (top floor of the hotel), & now we're on our way to take a 3 minute submarine ride to a restaurant for dinner.  Menaka, I plan on having Dover sole like the last time we were together in New York, but unlike you, I won't be falling off my chair onto the floor.

Matt wants me to do a shout out to cousin Bobby to say, "Who comes here & goes to a water park & eats hot dogs rather than have a 6 course lobster dinner with 6 courses of wine?".

-  Clara